Thursday 15 December 2005
ALP
Senator Trish Crossin

"Dr Lim has today demonstrated how spineless the CLP's local members have been over the radioactive waste dump" Senator Trish Crossin said.

"Dr Lim now says let's find the best site - as long as it's in the Northern Territory.

"Perhaps it has suddenly dawned on him that the dump may be just 30 km from his electorate and that Australia's most toxic radioactive waste will be driven through Alice Springs.

"His colleagues led by Jodeen Carney expressed only token opposition to the dump.

"They did nothing while their federal representatives Senator Scullion and Dave Tollner did all they could to sell out the Territory.

"I hope as Dr Lim tours Lucas Heights Reactor today, as I did a month ago, that he notices there is room with some compacting to store another 30 to 40 years of intermediate and low level waste.

"He may also notice the cooling spent fuel rods in pools that would be destined to be high level waste at our dump if ever overseas reprocessors refused to take them.

"Dr Lim should also be concerned when even the CEO of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is having doubts about the safety of a waste dump. When The CEO issued the OPAL research reactor construction licence he specially noted the view of International Commission on Radiological Protection:

The Commission believes that the standard of environmental control needed to protect man to the degree currently thought desirable will ensure that other species are not put at risk. Occasionally, individual members of non-human species might be harmed, but not to the extent of endangering whole species or creating imbalance between species.
………..This view is certainly coming under challenge – and especially so for environments where non-human species are likely to be those most exposed, as may be the case for a waste repository, for example.
(http://www.arpansa.gov.au/pubs/rrrp/comm_on_issue.pdf page 14)

"Dr Lim should be concerned how the waste dump is configured to ensure over its life time of thousands of years that there is no damage to species that are also part of our bush tucker food chain" Senator Crossin said.